Review: 'Kiss of the Vampire' by Cynthia Garner

5:00 PM

Just when you think you have read every possible origin for paranormal ghoulies, an author comes along with a pleasant surprise! Cynthia Garner captured my attention from the outset and kept me turning the pages of her fast-paced paranormal/crime thriller by incorporating complex characters in an original alternate world.

A dimensional rift opens every 73 years when a comet makes its journey through the solar system. The rift allows supernatural beings, mainly criminals, to escape their dimension to Earth and possess a dying or newly dead human host. The combination of their otherworldly essence with the human's determines what type of creature they become, and Garner sprinkles her world with various shifter folk, vampires, pixies and demons. The beings are termed Extra-Dimensionals (ED) and have been crossing over for a millennia, but humans have known of their existence for only the past three years.

She grinned. His metaphor was accurate. "Technically they are vampires. They have fangs. They don't eat, they drink blood."

"But they're not reanimated corpses like in the legends. That's what I mean." When she started to correct him, Dante waved her off. "Okay, okay, I realize that the entities that turn into what we call vampires can only take over dying or newly dead bodies, so I suppose that makes them reanimated corpses. But ... you know what I mean." Frustration colored his deep voice.

Succubus demon/human hybrid Nix de la Fuente works as a liaison between the region's Council of Preternaturals and the local authorities. She is assigned to investigate the grisly murder of vampire Amarinda Novellus, a good friend she hadn't seen in five years. Amarinda worked for a wealthy, powerful quadrant vampire leader and is the second vamp to be brutally murdered in as many days, so the pressure is on to find out who or what is able to subdue and kill such a strong, ancient being. Nix works with sexy human detective Dante MacMillan, and, much to her chagrin, her intense, seductive ex-lover, Tobias Caine, arrives on the scene. Caine is quadrant vampire liaison and he is given the lead investigative role.

Five years. It had been five years since he'd walked out on her. Five years since he'd thrown away her love.

It was like a dagger to the heart, seeing him again. He looked the same as ever, tall, lean, handsome as sin. His gray shirt matched his eyes and his leather coat fell to midthigh, drawing attention to those long legs encased in dark blue denim. He looked damned fine. His presence revved up her pulse and that made her mad.

Tobias hurt Nix deeply when he ended their one-year love affair. She believes he left her because of her mixed species breeding and that he did not reciprocate her strong feelings. In reality Tobias has missed Nix and ached to be with her. His reason for ending their relationship is quite honorable, as hybrid demons are known to go mad at a young age if unable to keep their demon side subdued. Tobias' nature seemed to call to her demon side, especially in times of passion, and he was afraid of losing her to madness.

Nix is volatile but intelligent and determined to control her demon. It's like simmering lava that comes to a boil inside her, trying to punch through during times of heightened emotion or stress. She actually goes through a metamorphosis when her demon emerges.

Nix and Tobias have been estranged for five years and during that time she discovered and regularly practices a unique discipline that effectively quells her demon half. Readers can expect incendiary sexual tension and steamy love scenes as Nix and Tobias work through their conflicts and eventually resolve their conflicted past.

The crisis escalates as a blood bath surrounding the next murder shows unprecedented violence and cruelty. Garner crafts an action-packed plot as Nix, Tobias and Dante's investigation uncovers a conspiracy with a web of deceit and betrayal that has worked its way into the very powerful governing council.

Quick, witty banter between the three protagonists, intrigue and multidimensional characters make Kiss of the Vampire a thoroughly enjoyable introduction to Garner's Warriors of the Rift series.

Secret of the Wolf, Dante and werewolf council liaison Tori Joseph's story, is coming this summer. I'm looking forward to the read.

Lea Franczak lives in Toronto with her family, which includes three dogs and one cantankerous geriatric cat. She has been blogging and reviewing since 2008 and is one of the administrators at Book Lovers Inc. She is also an active member at Goodreads.

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